Nicklaus-Palmer still the standard in golf rivalries

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — Jack Nicklaus said if he were in a high-stakes match in Las Vegas in his prime, the most compelling opponent would be Arnold Palmer. Never mind that he considers his toughest rival to be Tom Watson. Or that he finished runner-up to Lee Trevino in major tournaments four times in seven years.

With apologies to the super-hyped, pay-per-view exhibition Phil Mickelson won against Tiger Woods on Friday, any talk of rivalries in golf starts with Nicklaus and Palmer.

“I rarely lost to Arnold,” Nicklaus said last week before an American Cancer Society benefit. “We never ended up coming down the stretch very much.”

Nicklaus was a runner-up to Palmer six times, including the 1960 U.S. Open at Cherry Hills Country Club near Denver as a 20-year-old amateur.

But unlike Mickelson and Woods, who never really squared off in a major until Woods’ fifth year on the tour, Nicklaus famously beat Palmer in a playoff to win the 1962 U.S. Open at Oakmont Country Club in western Pennsylvania, Palmer’s backyard.

“Arnold and my rivalry became more from the two of us,” Nicklaus said. “We would play together a lot. We were paired a lot. And usually we beat each other up and we ended up giving the tournament away. That’s why they talk about the rivalry. Everyone was interested in who won that day, not who won the tournament.”

Nicklaus was reminded of the 1970 U.S. Open at Hazeltine National Golf Club near Minneapolis, where the tournament scoreboard had the names Nicklaus, Palmer and Gary Player — who won nine majors to the record 18 for Nicklaus and Palmer’s seven — at the bottom the entire week. None of them finished in the top 40.

Nicklaus also finished runner-up in the majors four times to Watson, all coming down to the final few holes, none more dramatic than the British Open in 1977.

Nicklaus said the rivalry with Palmer started in 1958 when Nicklaus, an 18-year-old amateur, was invited to take part in a day honoring Dow Finsterwald.

“On the first tee, we had a driving contest,” Nicklaus said. “Arnold drove it on the green. I drove it 30 yards over the green. I never let Arnold forget that. I’d say, ‘Hey AP, we had one driving contest, I hit it 30 yards by you.’ He’d say, ‘Yeah, but I shot 63 that day and you shot 67.’ To me, that was the start of our rivalry. Ever since we played, we always had fun with that.”